The traditional tamale includes a tube of masa dough surrounding a filling. Making tamales is a very time consuming process. Because of this, although a great many people enjoy eating tamales, they are often not served at home because of time constraints. Another problem with home made tamales is their inconsistency. Typically a rectangle of masa dough one-quarter to one-half inch thick is spread by hand on a wrapper, filling is placed down the center line of the dough, and the dough is rolled into a tube over the filling. Because it is made by hand, the thickness of the dough can vary, the amount of filling can vary, and the amount of filling and dough along the length can vary.
There are many commercial tamale makers available that can reduce the time for making each tamale and that can produce consistent tamales. However, these makers are specifically designed for making large batches of tamales and use an extrusion process. Consequently, the devices are large, expensive, complex, and would take too long to clean for home use.
Therefore, there has been a need for a tamale maker for home use that speeds up the process and makes consistent tamales.